While Mr. Ellis acknowledged that changing long-standing behaviors won’t be easy, “turnout is so low that if we increase it by even a meager percentage we can have a dramatic influence,” he said.
A pledge to vote in primary elections has so far been signed by 150,000 people, he said, may of them first-time voters.
“People are trained to think we go to the polls in November. In a primary, they say, ‘You know a Republican’s going to win, so why come out? I just want to make sure my team wins,’ ” Mr. Ellis said.
“Twelve incumbents were replaced in primaries and 13 died in office” from 2002 to 2008, he said. “God recalls more people in primaries than we do.”
© Copyright 2013 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.
Luke Rosiak is a projects reporter on The Washington Times’ investigative team. He formerly covered lobbying and campaign finance for two watchdog groups as well as transportation for The Washington Post. Luke can be reached at lrosiak@washingtontimes.com.
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